Missing Miami Beach K9 Found
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MIAMI BEACH (CBSMiami) - A Miami Beach K9 who escaped his handler's home has been found.
Colt is a two year old black and tan Belgian Malinois. His handler said they had just returned home around 2 a.m. from training when the dog zipped out the front door when it didn't close. The handler said Colt took off before he could give the stop command.
"He must have heard something," said Miami Beach police spokesman Ernesto Rodriguez. "Who knows what triggered him to act like a dog and bolt out that front door."
Rodriguez said Colt is three weeks shy of finishing his four month training program.
Colt took off in the area of 213th Street and SW 92nd Avenue. His handler, Michael Angulo, said he was easily identifiable - he has a cone around his neck. Colt was injured during training and has a splint on his rear left leg which is bandaged.
Rodriguez said Colt is worth about $40,000 but more importantly he's an officer and a member of his handler's family.
"Not only is he with him day in and day out," said Rodriguez, "He's also obviously part of the family so that bond is very close."
Thursday morning police from several different agencies assisted in the search by going door to door, asking area residents if they had seen Colt.
"I've seen him interact with the dog, the dog is instantaneous when he says a command," said Ronnie Kendrix who lives near Colt's handler. "The dog lays there and doesn't move when I'm out here with my animals."
An officer taking part in a grid search spotted Colt near a home at SW 227th Street and 90th Place. He got out of his car and used a toy to entice him to get in.
Angulo, said said he was overjoyed when he heard that his dog had been found.
"It's like your child," he said.
Colt seemed ecstatic as he jumped up and down and tried to lick Angulo's face when they were reunited.
Angulo said this was the first time Colt had done something like this and he would take precautions to make sure it didn't happen again.
